wrestlingfanforlife

Wisconsin season ticket holder but lifelong Hawkeye fan… I know, right. 1. Wisconsin’s wrestling facilities are abysmal. They sorely need an upgrade. 2. The Badgers simply cannot compete with the NIL capabilities of Penn State and others. What is the answer to increase the collective funding? 3. Like it or not, having Askren “on board with whomever the Badgers might hire is extremely important… losing too many high-quality wrestlers to out-of-state programs. The in-state wrestlers who stay, honestly, are not “those guys!” 4. Attendance at home meets is not amazing… wrestling is most definitely a fringe sport at Madison. Can changing that help grow the program? Gents, these are just my random thoughts about the program; take them for what they are worth.

Question for the masses: should Hamiti look to transfer?

Carr with a gift in the finals.

Listed capacity is 7,039… NOW Arena is over 11,000 Allstate Arena is listed 18,500

A capacity of barely over 7,000… and doesn’t look very impressive. on

2025-Northwestern 2026-Penn State Will Northwestern host on campus or at another venue in Chicagoland?

If he is successful on the football field as a freshman, will Badger fans ever see him in a singlet?

One of the trends on the Wisconsin wrestling forum is praise for the Wisconsin gents on the team… really probably having the opposite effect the poster wanted. Can anyone tell me how Messenbrink, O’Toole, and Keckeisen did over the weekend?

This is an interesting topic; on the Wisconsin wrestling forum, a Reader to CMU thread was started. That thread predates this thread. While the early response was a bit snarky… Minnesota fan coming on the Wisconsin forum to stir the pot, it now seems there just might be a little something to the Reader to CMU? thread. If that happens, that might increase the murmurs of discontent with Bono to full fledged screams for immediate change!!

Nicolar Rivera, the current Badger at 133, is rumored to be going down to 125 for next season.

Have heard that Rivera (133) will be able to make 125 next year.

Yes, you absolutely will be seeing more posts from me. We have one child left at home; he chose not to wrestle. We have a blended family, and my boys were wrestlers from a young age. Alas, they are grown and doing amazing things in adulthood; what we miss the most is simply the time with them spent at countless tournaments!!

Spurley was out most of this season due to injury; I believe his first matches of the year were at Regionals.

You are welcome! I understand the pride of having Wisconsin kids on the roster. However, when they aren't "the guys" who could and would elevate the program, it gets tough to stomach after seeing the success of the hammers who thrive outside the state!

I have followed and enjoyed this forum both here and at its previous site for many years. However, this post made me want to sign up and reply, not as a negative response, but to give rationale as to why many Badger wrestling fans are calling for Bono to be gone. First, I have been around the sport of wrestling since I was old enough to know what wrestling actually was. During high school, I lived in Northwest Illinois; we got IPT (Iowa Public Television) on our farm. Yes, I am a life-long Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling fan. Now, I live about 25 minutes south of Madison, WI. I met and married a woman with no wrestling background or knowledge... needless to say, she has embraced the sport I love, and we are now Badger Wrestling season ticket holders. To address the why: Bono and staff tout the importance of having in-state kids on the Badger roster. However, that sentiment really is working against Bono. When you take a look at the Badger state kids that Bono does not have on the roster, it is frustrating to see their success not in a Badger singlet. O'Toole, Mocco, and Whiting at Mizzou, Keckeisen at UNI, Messenbrink now and the Mirasolas next year at Penn State, and countless other possible All Americans at other programs make the current roster less than impressive. Going back to Askren, Pell, and Wagner all ending up at Mizzou, that pipeline was clearly established. Additionally, the rocky relationship, supposedly on the mend, between Bono and Askren does not help. While Wisconsin does have subpar facilities, this does not equal doom and gloom for the program. As alluded to in other threads, a growing number of Badger fans are tired of Bono's antics, and the in-state kids the Badgers get do not compare to the list above! If you look at the Wisconsin kids on the Badger roster this year and their records, it is not very impressive. However, one very pleasant surprise for the Badgers has been Shane Leigel, a grad transfer from Division 3 Loras, and a multiple-time Wisconsin State Champion from River Valley High School. In a nutshell, the Badgers are missing out massively on the "great ones" who keep getting away and are settling for the second-tier recruits, most of whom are just not very successful in a Badger singlet. Plus, that whole NIL thing!